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Chains respond to COVID-19: Genoa Healthcare

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Genoa Healthcare’s COVID-19 response demonstrates the power of relationships.

Editor’s note: This is part of a series of articles on how retailers are responding to the COVID-19 crisis.

Joe Douglas

At an extraordinary moment like this, Genoa Healthcare’s mission — to provide specialized, compassionate pharmacy care to people with behavioral health issues — comes more sharply into focus.

Our 516 pharmacies, co-located in community mental health centers, primarily serve people with mental health and substance use disorders. For those with severe behavioral health issues, having access to medications can mean the difference between life and death.

Despite enormous challenges brought on by COVID-19, our pharmacies have found ways to continue to support consumers and partners.

We are taking all necessary precautions to ensure the health and safety of consumers and staff. These measures, informed by guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), include employee health screenings, rigorous disinfection, social distancing and Plexiglass screens at point of service, and the use of personal protective equipment.

A key factor in our ability to serve our community is the strength of our relationships — built over our 20-year history — with both the people we serve and our partner clinics.

Many community mental health centers have been forced to reduce programs and foot traffic for health and safety reasons. We have partnered closely with them to manage through this crisis in a way that keeps consumers on their medications despite these ­challenges.

Because of social distancing, many of our consumers can no longer come into the pharmacy — so we now go to them. To minimize potential exposure, we encourage consumers to use our free mailing service, and remind them we can fill all medications, behavioral health and primary care. We are also offering curbside pickup wherever possible, as well as ­delivery.

As the health care system is stretched, Genoa Healthcare staff have stepped up in countless ways. When we have capacity and where allowed by law, we have helped fill the gap in providing long-acting injectables and other top-of-license pharmacy services. Our Telepsychiatry division has offered its platform free of charge to more than a dozen mental health centers, helping deliver remote care to hundreds of ­consumers.

Knowing that COVID-19 has increased feelings of isolation for many, our pharmacy staff have maintained an ongoing connection with consumers by doing proactive phone outreach, sending handwritten notes and providing helpful tips on reducing anxiety and depression during these uncertain times. One consumer told us, “Thank you for calling me. You’re the first person I’ve talked to in two weeks.”

These regular touchpoints also allow pharmacists to share important health updates with providers, who may no longer be seeing or speaking to their patients due to social ­distancing.

Genoa Healthcare has also been in touch with key suppliers every day, closely monitoring our medication inventory to ensure we have enough to take care of consumers, while balancing the need to avoid overstocking items.

We are monitoring the status of the generic supply chain, and we have taken steps to preserve access to medications that could be impacted to make sure consumers have the medications that they need now, and over the next few months as things evolve.

Through it all, our employees across the organization have stepped forward to ask what more they can do to support consumers, our partners and our colleagues.

This unwavering commitment to those we serve is what sets Genoa Healthcare apart. It’s the passion for what we do that enables us to succeed in tough times.

Above all, we remain committed to helping consumers continue to have access to their medications over the course of this crisis, when they need us more than ever.

Joe Douglas is chief executive officer of Genoa Healthcare.


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